Method and apparatus for gesture interaction with a photo-active painted surface

ABSTRACT

A method and apparatus for gesture interaction with a photo-active painted surface is described. The method may include driving a spatial electromagnetic modulator to emit electromagnetic stimulation in the form of an image to cause photo-active paint to display the image. The method may also include capturing, with at least a camera of a painted surface display system, image data of the image displayed on the photo-active paint applied to a surface and a user motion performed relative to the image. The method may also include analyzing the captured image data to determine a sequence of one or more physical movements of the user relative to the image displayed on the photo-active paint. The method may also include determining, based on the analysis, that the user motion is indicative of a gesture, and driving the spatial electromagnetic modulator to update.

TECHNICAL FIELD

Embodiments of the invention relate to the field of large-scale displaysystems, and more particularly, to the generation of large-scaledisplays.

BACKGROUND

Large wall displays can be prohibitively expensive as the cost tomanufacture display panels rises exponentially with display area. Thisexponential rise in cost arises from the increased complexity of largemonolithic displays, the decrease in yields associated with largedisplays (a greater number of components must be defect free for largedisplays), and increased shipping, delivery, and setup costs. Theexponential rise in cost also includes the energy requirementsassociated with large wall displays. As a result, typical large walldisplays are impractical for personal or home usage.

SUMMARY

A method and apparatus for gesture interaction with a photo-activepainted surface is described. According to an exemplary method, aspatial electromagnetic modulator is driven to emit electromagneticstimulation in the form of an image to cause the photo-active paint todisplay the image. In one embodiment, image data of the image displayedon photo-active paint applied to the surface and a user motion performedrelative to the image are captured, with at least a camera of a paintedsurface display system. Furthermore, in one embodiment, the capturedimage data is analyzed to determine a sequence of one or more physicalmovements of the user relative to the image displayed on thephoto-active paint. In one embodiment, based on the analysis, that theuser motion is indicative of a gesture, the spatial electromagneticmodulator is driven to generate an update to the image.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The present invention will be understood more fully from the detaileddescription given below and from the accompanying drawings of variousembodiments of the invention, which, however, should not be taken tolimit the invention to the specific embodiments, but are for explanationand understanding only.

FIG. 1A is a block diagram of exemplary system architecture for enablinggesture interaction with a painted surface display system.

FIG. 1B illustrates a perspective view of a surface painted with aphoto-active paint.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram of one embodiment of painted surface displaysystem.

FIG. 3 is a flow diagram of one embodiment of a method for gesturerecognition in a painted surface display system.

FIG. 4 is a flow diagram of one embodiment of a method for enablinggesture-based interactions with a control panel displayed on aphoto-active painted surface.

FIG. 5 is a flow diagram of one embodiment of a method for enablinggesture-based text entry and drawing on a photo-active painted surface.

FIG. 6 illustrates a diagrammatic representation of a machine in theexemplary form of a computer system.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

In the following description, numerous details are set forth. It will beapparent, however, to one of ordinary skill in the art having thebenefit of this disclosure, that the present invention may be practicedwithout these specific details. In some instances, well-known structuresand devices are shown in block diagram form, rather than in detail, inorder to avoid obscuring the present invention.

Some portions of the detailed description that follow are presented interms of algorithms and symbolic representations of operations on databits within a computer memory. These algorithmic descriptions andrepresentations are the means used by those skilled in the dataprocessing arts to most effectively convey the substance of their workto others skilled in the art. An algorithm is here, and generally,conceived to be a self-consistent sequence of steps leading to a desiredresult. The steps are those requiring physical manipulations of physicalquantities. Usually, though not necessarily, these quantities take theform of electrical or magnetic signals capable of being stored,transferred, combined, compared, and otherwise manipulated. It hasproven convenient at times, principally for reasons of common usage, torefer to these signals as bits, values, elements, symbols, characters,terms, numbers, or the like.

It should be borne in mind, however, that all of these and similar termsare to be associated with the appropriate physical quantities and aremerely convenient labels applied to these quantities. Unlessspecifically stated otherwise as apparent from the following discussion,it is appreciated that throughout the description, discussions utilizingterms such as “capturing”, “determining”, “analyzing”, “driving”, or thelike, refer to the actions and processes of a computer system, orsimilar electronic computing device, that manipulates and transformsdata represented as physical (e.g., electronic) quantities within thecomputer system's registers and memories into other data similarlyrepresented as physical quantities within the computer system memoriesor registers or other such information storage, transmission or displaydevices.

The present invention also relates to an apparatus for performing theoperations herein. This apparatus may be specially constructed for therequired purposes, or it may comprise a general purpose computerselectively activated or reconfigured by a computer program stored inthe computer. Such a computer program may be stored in a computerreadable storage medium, such as, but not limited to, any type of diskincluding floppy disks, optical disks, CD-ROMs, and magnetic-opticaldisks, read-only memories (ROMs), random access memories (RAMs), EPROMs,EEPROMs, magnetic or optical cards, or any type of media suitable forstoring electronic instructions.

The algorithms and displays presented herein are not inherently relatedto any particular computer or other apparatus. Various general purposesystems may be used with programs in accordance with the teachingsherein, or it may prove convenient to construct a more specializedapparatus to perform the required method steps. The required structurefor a variety of these systems will appear from the description below.In addition, the present invention is not described with reference toany particular programming language. It will be appreciated that avariety of programming languages may be used to implement the teachingsof the invention as described herein.

FIG. 1A is a block diagram of exemplary system architecture 100 forenabling gesture interaction with a painted surface display system. Inone embodiment, the system 100 includes painted surface display system(PSDS) 120, user computer system 150, and one or more server(s) 140. Inone embodiment, PSDS 120, user computer system 150, and server(s) 140may be computing devices, such as a desktop computer, laptop computer,personal digital assistant, tablet computer, a mobile telephone, acellular communication enabled wearable device, etc. In one embodiment,PSDS 120 is a web-enabled self-contained computing device.

In one embodiment, audio-visual inputs/sensor inputs 135 and a spatialelectromagnetic (EM) modulator 125 are coupled with PSDS 120. Althoughonly a single PSDS 120 and user computer system 150 are illustrated, inthe embodiments discussed herein, a plurality of PSDSs 120 and/or aplurality of user computer systems 150 may be deployed to supportgesture interaction on painted surfaces as discussed below.

The PSDS 120, user computer system 150, and server(s) 140 may be coupledto a network 102 that communicates any of the standard protocols for theexchange of information. In one embodiment, user computer system 150 andPSDS 120 may be coupled with network 102 via a wireless connection, suchas a cellular telephone connection, wireless fidelity connection, etc.The PSDS 120, user computer system 150, and server(s) 140 may run on oneLocal Area Network (LAN) and may be incorporated into the same physicalor logical system, or different physical or logical systems.Alternatively, the PSDS 120, user computer system 150, and server(s) 140may reside on different LANs, wide area networks, cellular telephonenetworks, etc. that may be coupled together via the Internet butseparated by firewalls, routers, and/or other network devices. It shouldbe noted that various other network configurations can be usedincluding, for example, hosted configurations, distributedconfigurations, centralized configurations, etc.

In one embodiment, PSDS 120 enables the display of images and/or videoson a painted surface. In one embodiment, a surface 105, such as a wall,floor, ceiling, surface of an object, etc. within the real world, ispainted with a photo-active paint 110. In one embodiment, thephoto-active paint is stimulated by light of one or more particularwavelengths that displays an image in response to illumination. In oneembodiment, the photo-active paint is stimulated by heat generated, forexample, by a laser, by an electron beam, etc. by PSDS 120. FIG. 1Billustrates another perspective of surface 105 painted with aphoto-active paint 110. The photo-active paint 110 may be aphoto-luminescent paintable material that emits visible spectrum lightin response to one or more of electromagnetic stimulation on aphoto-chromic paintable material and temperature stimulation on athermo-chromic paintable material that changes lightabsorption/reflection properties in response to the electromagneticstimulation. These photo-active paints are available from companies suchDuPont™, 3M™, and others.

In one embodiment, and as discussed in greater detail below, PSDS 120includes a spatial electromagnetic EM modulator 125 and a display engine(not shown) coupled to drive the spatial EM modulator 125 with an image.In one embodiment, PSDS 120 includes also includes an AV/sensor input135 to capture image, sound, temperature, light, etc. data for analysis.In one embodiment, the analysis of the input data is provided asfeedback to the display engine which further drives spatialelectromagnetic EM modulator 125 to update the image generated byspatial electromagnetic EM modulator 125.

In one embodiment, PSDS 120 may be positioned remotely relative tosurface 105 with a line of sight view of photo-active paint 110 paintedon the surface 105. For example, PSDS 120 may be mounted on a ceiling,back wall, or shelf. In one embodiment, during operation of the PSDS120, spatial EM modulator 125 illuminates paint 110 with an image and/orvideo. Spatial EM modulator 125 may emit photons at differentwavelengths (e.g., UV or visible spectrum), or emit electrons, in theform of an image, video, or pattern for illuminating paint 110.

If paint 110 is a photo-luminescent material, then the image illuminatedonto paint 110 will cause paint 110 to re-emit photons in a patternindicative of the image output by spatial EM modulator 125 of PSDS 120.In some embodiments, the response time of paint 110 is quick enough tofacilitate video images, or slow enough to display still images forfinite periods of time. The still images may be refreshed periodicallywith the same image or a new image, thereby providing a low powerdisplay surface.

If paint 110 is a photo-chromic material, then illumination by spatialEM modulator 125 of PSDS 120 causes paint 110 to alter its lightabsorbing/reflecting properties. For example, the illuminated regions ofpaint 110 may change color. If photo-chromic paint is illuminated withan image, then the image is displayed on surface 105. Again, theresponse time of paint 210 may be quick enough to facilitate videoimages, or slow enough to display still images for finite periods oftime. The still images may be refreshed periodically with the same imageor a new image, thereby providing a low power display surface. In oneembodiment, photo-active paint 110 is a bi-stable e-ink, which can bemade to change between one of two colors via appropriate illumination byspatial EM modulator 125. In one embodiment, photo-active paint 110 maybe a tri-stable system, of a plurality of regions of the paint thatinclude 3 color patches (one each of R, G, and B) in each region to showmainly one of those colors

In one embodiment, PSDS 120 may output a registration pattern onto paint110, which AV/sensor input 135 then captures. The captured image andsensor data is analyzed by PSDS 120 to determine the size of areapainted on surface 105, properties of the painted surface (i.e., refreshrate, photo-sensitivity, imaging quality capabilities, color displaycapabilities, etc.), which is then used to adjust the zoom, size, videoframe rate, etc. of the images and/or videos output from PSDS 120. If auser repaints surface 105 with a larger or smaller painted area 110,repaints surface 105 with a different photo-active paint, or positionsPSDS 120 relative to a different painted surface (not shown), then PSDS120 can be recalibrated. Additionally, if surface 105 is painted with aslow response photo-active paint 110, PSDS 120 may monitor the image asit fades and determine the appropriate refresh rate and duty cycle foroperating a display engine that drives EM modulator 125.

In one embodiment, photo-active paint 110 is a pixilated layout ofmultiple different photo-active paints, each having a different spectralresponse to illumination. For example three different R, G, Bphoto-active paints may be applied to surface 105 in a pixilated grid.When the R-type photo-active paint is illuminated, it subsequently emitsor reflects red light for a period of time, when the G photo-activepaint is illuminated, it subsequently emits or reflects green light fora period of time, and when the B-type photo-active paint is illuminated,it subsequently emits or reflects blue light for a period of time. Byaligning or timing the EM stimulation from EM modulator 125 of PSDS 120with the color grid painted surface, the appearance of color images andvideos may be created. Of course, other color combinations, or even grayscale paints may be used.

It should be appreciated that surface 105, as illustrated in FIGS. 1Aand 1B need not be just a wall. Rather, any surface (flat or curved) maybe coated with photo-active paint 110 and become a blank canvas uponwhich image and videos may be displayed and updated at will.Furthermore, in the embodiments discussed herein, photo-active paint 110may be transparent or translucent in an unexcited state, and then becomedarker or emit photons in an excited state (i.e., when stimulated bylight, heat, etc.). The translucent or transparent photo-active paintcould be applied to surface 105 when it is desirable for surface 105 toremain visible under the paint.

In one embodiment, EM modulator 125 displays a user interactive image onpainted surface 105. In one embodiment, a user may interact with theimage through gestures that the user makes near the image and/or whilefacing the image displayed on photo-active paint 110 applied to surface105. In one embodiment, audio-visual inputs/sensor inputs 135 of PSDS120 capture image or video data with, for example, a camera systemmounted in the PSDS 120 and pointed towards photo-active paint 110 onsurface 105. As discussed in greater detail below, PSDS 120 may analyzethe captured image or video data by performing one or more computervision processes, such as face recognition to identify specific users,motion and object recognition to determine when a user approachessurface 105, gesture recognition to differentiate between different usergestures and a location the gestures are performed relative to paintedsurface 105, etc.

In one embodiment, PSDS 120 performs image analysis to recognize andprocess user gesture interaction, such as hand, body, and eye gestureinteraction, with images displayed on the photo-active paint 110 appliedto surface 105. For example, when PSDS 120 displays pages of a book withphoto-active paint 110 on surface 105, a user may interact with controlsthat are displayed on photo-active paint 110 along with the book. Thesecontrols may include, for example, widgets for turning a page of thebook, in which case PSDS 120 would cause photo-active paint to display anew page of the book, widgets for bookmarking the book, widgets foropening or closing different books, etc.

In one embodiment, PSDS 120 enables users to interact with aphoto-active painted surface with different types of gestures. In oneembodiment, PSDS 120 supports one or more of formal gestures, trainedgestures, natural gestures, and user interface control gestures. In oneembodiment, a formal gesture is a gesture that is pre-set in PSDS 120and a user learns to perform the gesture (e.g., a zoom gesture, aminimize gesture, a close application gesture, etc.). In one embodiment,a trained gesture is a gesture that a user teaches the PSDS 120 torecognize. That is, the user performs a new gesture one or more times toPSDS 120 until PSDS 120 is able to differentiate the created gesturefrom other gestures, such as other formal, natural gestures, trainedgestures, and user interface control gestures. In one embodiment, theuser then explains (e.g., via a keyboard in communication with PSDS 120)what the new trained gesture denotes and what actions or processes thenew trained gesture is associated with (e.g., waving hands abovehead=“display all emergency contact numbers large on the wall”). In oneembodiment, a natural gesture is a subset of the formal gesture type,but is a gesture that a user would learn from the real world, and whichis processed accordingly by the PSDS 120. For example, a userunderstands a light switch gesture as flipping a switch. In thisexample, when a user approaches painted surface 105, the user mayperform a flip-switch motion on an empty space on painted surface 105.PSDS 120 would recognize the natural gesture as a commonly understoodsequence of motions, and perform the associated action (e.g., turn onlights in a room). Finally, in one embodiment, a user interface controlgesture is a gesture in which a user interacts with controls drawn ontophoto-active paint by PSDS 120. Continuing the light switch example,PSDS 120 may draw a light switch control on photo-active paint 110. Auser may then approach the drawn on light switch image generated by PSDS120, and perform the switch motion, similar to that discussed withrespect to the nature gestures. However, PSDS 120 could interpret theswitch gesture in the context of the drawn on control and, for example,turn the power on for a device specified by the control (e.g., power ona television, power on exterior lighting, etc.). Although differenttypes of gestures and examples of those gestures are discussed herein,PSDS 120 is not limited to the recognition and processing of specificgesture types.

In one embodiment, user interface control gestures are analyzed,recognized, and processed relative to controls drawn on the photo-activepaint 110 applied to surface 105. In one embodiment, the controls drawnon the photo-active paint 110 may be drawn to appear in variouslocations on the painted surface 105, enlarge when a user approaches thecontrols, present different controls to different users (i.e., fromface, voice, or other forms of user identification), etc. In oneembodiment, presentation of controls by PSDS 120 is based on adetermined context associated with a user. In one embodiment, thecontrols may automatically be generated and displayed on photo-activepaint 110 when a user is determined to be proximate to surface 105, aswell as based on a determined pose and attention relative to surface105. Furthermore, different controls may be associated with differentlocations of surface 105 (i.e., a first location on surface 105 isassociated with a radio control panel, a second location on surface 105is associated with a room lighting control panel, a third location onsurface 105 is associated with text entry, etc.), so that as a user isdetermined by PSDS 120 to approach a specific location relative tophoto-active painted surface 105, PSDS 120 may automatically display theassociated controls on photo-active paint 110 applied to surface 105. Inone embodiment, different control systems may be displayed by PSDS 120in response to detection of associated gestures (i.e., a first usergesture is associated media center control panel, a second gesture isassociated text entry control panel). In yet another embodiment, userpreferences may define what controls are displayed on surface 105 when aspecific user is determined by PSDS 120 to approach surface 105. Thesepreferences may be defined directly through an interface generated anddisplayed by PSDS 120, or remotely by receipt of user preferences fromuser computer system 150.

In one embodiment, PSDS 120 is web enabled so that it may communicateover network 102 with one more connected systems, such as server(s) 140.In one embodiment, server(s) 140 may receive input, commands, or otherdata entered via an interface displayed by PSDS 120. As discussedherein, the input, commands, or other day are obtained by PSDS 120through gesture recognition performed by PSDS 120 in response todetection of user gestures performed proximate to surface 105. In oneembodiment, the input obtained by PSDS 120 and transmitted to server(s)140 may be data entry, such as alphanumeric entry for which PSDS 120performs optical character recognition on text entry gestures performedby a user. In one embodiment, the data entry may be performed with avirtual whiteboard or graffiti application displayed by PSDS 120 onphoto-active painted surface 105. However, instead of physically writingon surface 105, PSDS 120 recognizes hand gestures, such as text entry,save, erase, move, and other functions associated with the alphanumericentry. In one embodiment, PSDS 120 performs optical characterrecognition on the gestures to persist an image of the user's text entryon photo-active paint 110, and optionally recognize and replace the textentry with a clean type font of the alphanumeric entry. In oneembodiment, similar processes may be performed by PSDS 120 in responseto user graffiti art. For example, user drawing gestures may bedetermined by PSDS 120 to indicate a user is drawing a circle. PSDS 120could then replace the hand-drawn circle image with the image of aperfect circle. In one embodiment, text and drawing recognition resultsmay be sent to remote server(s) 140 from PSDS 120 for storage or asinput to a remote system, such as server(s) 140 or user computer system150.

In one embodiment, a user need not be proximate to surface 105 in orderto interact with PSDS 120. In one embodiment, a user may deploy ahandheld EM modulator (not shown) to draw, write, or perform gestures onphoto-active paint 110. In one embodiment, the handheld EM modulatorwould cause a change in the chemistry of photo-active paint 110 therebycreating an image on photo-active paint 110. In one embodiment,audio-visual/sensor input capture by PSDS 120 would capture thedrawings, and process them in accordance with the discussion herein asalphanumeric entry, gestures, etc.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram of one embodiment 220 of painted surfacedisplay system (PSDS). PSDS 220, as illustrated in FIG. 2, providesadditional details for the PSDS 120 discussed above in FIG. 1A.

In one embodiment, PSDS 220 may include one or more sensors 135B coupledwith a sensor input 240, one or more audio-visual (A/V) capture devices135A (e.g., a camera, microphone, etc.) coupled with A/V input 230,gesture recognition engine 250, a gesture database 255, a web enabledinterface (I/F) 270, a user control engine 260, and a display engine 280coupled with a spatial electromagnetic EM modulator 125. In oneembodiment, the PSDS 220, user computer system 150, and server(s) 140communicate with each other over various networks and networkconfigurations as discussed above in FIG. 1A. Furthermore, in oneembodiment, PSDS 220 may be coupled with user computer system 150 bywired, wireless, or near filed communication connection.

In one embodiment, A/V input 230 receives audiovisual data from A/Vcapture devices 135A. The audiovisual data may include images, video,sound, etc. In one embodiment, the audiovisual data is provided togesture recognition engine 250. Furthermore, sensor input 240 receivessensor input data from sensors 135B, such as light data, humidity data,temperature data, wind speed, ambient noise level, etc.

The audiovisual data and sensor data is received by gesture recognitionengine 250. In one embodiment, gesture recognition engine 250 performsone or more computer vision processes, such as image recognition, facerecognition, motion recognition, etc., on the received audiovisual andsensor data to identify users that may be proximate to surface 105,detect gestures that a user may be making (e.g., gesture 109 performedby user 107), and identify any potential detected gestures based ongestures motion signatures stored within gesture database 255. In oneembodiment, the gestures identifiable by gesture recognition engine 250,and for which motion signatures are stored within gesture database 255,may include formal gestures, trained gestures, natural gesture, and userinterface control gestures.

In one embodiment, in order for gesture recognition engine 250 todifferentiate between different gestures, and to determine whether ornot to process those gestures, gesture recognition engine 250 alsoanalyzes the audiovisual data and sensor data to determine a usercontext associated with a potential gesture. In one embodiment, thecontext may include an identity of a user, a user's proximity to surface105, a user's determined posture and attention relative to the surface105, a user's proximity to different areas of surface (i.e., wheredifferent areas are associated with different controls), etc.

In one embodiment, the analysis of a user's motion and context enablegesture recognition engine 250 to determine whether or not a gesturehas, or may, been performed by a user. As discussed herein, thedetermined gesture might indicate alphanumeric entry on a photo-activepainted surface 105, command entry into a displayed control panel,gestures that enable user interaction with an image displayed onphoto-active paint 110 (e.g., turning the pages of a displayed book),etc. Furthermore, gesture recognition engine 250 may determine that,from analysis of the audiovisual data, a context associated with a userindicates the user may perform a gesture. For example, gesturerecognition engine 250 may determine that a user's motion indicates theyare moving toward wall 105, and their posture and attention are directedtowards wall 105.

In one embodiment, gesture recognition engine 250 informs user controlengine 260 that a specific gesture has been performed or that a user mayperform a gesture in the future. In one embodiment, when user controlengine 260 receives an indication that a user may perform a gesture,user control engine 260 determines whether to display a user interfacecontrol panel. As discussed in the examples above, as a user approachesa location on surface 105, user control panel may determine to displayand/or enlarge an existing control panel at the location as the userapproaches the control panel. Furthermore, if a user approachesdifferent location on surface 105 associated with different controlpanels, user control engine 260 could determine which specific userinterface control panel to display.

In one embodiment, when gesture recognition engine 250 determines that auser has performed a gesture, user control engine 260 receives anindication that a user has performed a gesture and data relevant to thegesture performed. In one embodiment, user control panel 260 utilizesthe gesture data (i.e., a command, alphanumeric data entry, etc.) totransmit data for the gesture to a connected system, such as one ofserver(s) 140. In one embodiment, user control engine 260 furtherutilizes gesture data (i.e., a command, alphanumeric data entry, etc.)to generate or update an image/video data being displayed byphoto-active paint 110.

In one embodiment, display engine 280 receives a command from usercontrol engine 260 as to what controls, user data, etc. are to bedisplayed or refreshed. Display engine 280 is coupled with the spatialEM modulator 125 to drive EM modulator 125 to display the one or moreimages and/or videos. As discussed above, the images and videosgenerated and displayed by PSDS 220 enable a user to interact with PSDS220 or connected systems, such as server(s) 140, via gestures.

FIG. 3 is a flow diagram of one embodiment of a method 300 for gesturerecognition in a painted surface display system. The method 300 isperformed by processing logic that may comprise hardware (circuitry,dedicated logic, etc.), software (such as is run on a general purposecomputer system or a dedicated machine), firmware, or a combination. Inone embodiment, the method 300 is performed by PSDS 120 or PSDS 220.

Referring to FIG. 3, processing logic begins by monitoring one or moreof A/V input data and sensor data associated with a user and a PSDSpainted surface (processing block 302). In one embodiment, processinglogic monitors one or more of audio data, visual data, and sensor datawith respect to a surface painted with photo-active paint. In oneembodiment, the monitored data may include different users andmovements/gestures performed by the users relative to the surface.

Processing logic analyzes the monitored input data to determine if auser has performed a gesture relevant to the photo-active paintedsurface (processing block 304). In one embodiment, processing logicutilizes the monitored data to determine a context within which apotential gesture has been performed. In one embodiment, processinglogic performs one or more computer vision processes on the monitoreddata to recognize and identify information within the monitored data.For example, processing logic may perform one or more of voicerecognition, image recognition, motion recognition, etc. to identifyspecific users that are proximate to painted surface, whether theirmovement, pose, and attention is directed to or away from the paintedsurface, determining when an identified user is approaching the paintedsurface, etc. The analysis performed by processing logic generates areal-world context where a user's motion can be interpreted.

When processing logic determines that a user is near a photo-activepainted surface, and is performing gestures on or at an image displayedon painted surface, the user's gestures and context (i.e., location tosurface, attention directed to surface, image displayed on surface,etc.) are interpreted by processing logic as potential gestures(processing block 306). As discussed above, the potential gestures maybe formal, trained, natural, user interface control, or other types ofgestures. In one embodiment, processing logic compares the analysis ofthe monitored data to determine a motion signature for a potentialgesture given the potential gesture's context. Processing logic maycompare the determined motion signature against a database of differentgestures to see if the gesture is one recognized by processing logic.

In one embodiment, processing logic detects potential gestures via acamera of a PSDS. In one embodiment, processing logic additionallyand/or alternatively detects potential gestures based on imagesgenerated on a photo-active painted surface. When processing logic of aPSDS expects to see a particular pattern on a photo-active paintedsurface, such as the pattern created by an image the PSDS is displaying,any differences in intensity of the pattern from what the PSDS expectsto see can be interpreted by processing logic as a potential gesture.For example, a user blocking something until it fades out could be agesture to PSDS to stop refreshing that part of the image. In thisexample, PSDS need not determine what blocked the light (e.g., a hand, abook, etc.), but only that the blocking happened and where it happenedrelative to a photo-active painted surface and a displayed image.

If a user gesture is not detected (processing block 306), processinglogic returns to block 302 to continue monitoring input data. However,if a gesture is detected (processing block 306), processing logicprocesses the detected gesture (processing block 308). For example, thegesture processed by processing logic may correspond with text entry ona painted surface, commands associated with the text entry, commandsdirected to various connected systems, or interactions with animage/video displayed on a photo-active painted surface.

Processing logic then generates a display or update, if any, on a PSDSpainted surface (processing block 310). In one embodiment, the gesturedetermined at block 308 may cause an update or change to an image beingdisplayed on a photo-active painted surface. For example, processinglogic may persist gesture initiated text entry, may recognize thegesture text entry or drawing and replace it, may update a display basedon received control commands, etc.

In one embodiment, processing logic drives a spatial EM modulator togenerate the display on photo-active paint. Furthermore, in oneembodiment, the display continues to be displayed for a period of timebased on the photo-active paint's chemistry, even when the EM modulatoris obstructed. That is, because photo-active paint's reaction tostimulation by the EM modulator causes photo-active paint to display theimage, even when an object (i.e., a person, object, animal, etc.)obstructs a line of sight between the spatial EM modulator and thephoto-active painted surface, the photo-active paint continues topersist and display the images for a period of time.

FIG. 4 is a flow diagram of one embodiment of a method 400 for enablinggesture-based interactions with a control panel displayed on aphoto-active painted surface. The method 400 is performed by processinglogic that may comprise hardware (circuitry, dedicated logic, etc.),software (such as is run on a general purpose computer system or adedicated machine), firmware, or a combination. In one embodiment, themethod 400 is performed by PSDS 120 or PSDS 220.

Referring to FIG. 4, processing logic begins by monitoring one or moreof A/V input data and sensor data associated with a user and a PSDSpainted surface (processing block 402). As discussed above, themonitored data may include one or more of audio data, visual data, andsensor data that captures different users, and their respectivemovements/gestures performed relative to a photo-active painted surface.

Processing logic determines a context for a user with respect to thephoto-active painted surface based on analysis of the monitored data(processing block 404). In one embodiment, processing logic may performone or more of voice recognition, image recognition, motion recognition,etc. to identify a specific user, the user's location with respect tothe painted surface, and whether their movement, pose, and attention aremoving toward the painted surface.

After processing logic analyzes the user context information, processinglogic generates a control interface for display to the user based on thedetermined context (processing block 406). In one embodiment, thecontext may indicate that a user is approaching a photo-active paintedsurface, and processing logic generates a just-in-time control interfacewhen the user reaches the painted surface. In one embodiment, thecontext information may also specify different control interfaces basedon an identity of the user, a location of the user relative to differentlocations of the painted surface, etc. In one embodiment, where acontrol panel is already displayed on a painted surface, as the userapproaches the control panel, processing logic could determine that thecontrol panel should be enlarged.

Furthermore, the control panel determined to be generated and/ordisplayed by processing logic may be determined, based on contextinformation, to offer controls to one more connected systems. Forexample, context information indicative of a user approaching a paintedsurface in a home where the user is identified as a resident of thehome, may cause display controls for interacting with a home lightingsystem, home security system, and home entertainment system to begenerated. In contrast, if the context information indicates that adifferent user, who is not a resident of the home, approaches the wall,only the home entertainment system control interface is generated. Inthe embodiments discussed herein, different control interfaces may begenerated based on context, including but not limited to, relativeposition to a painted surface, user identity, permissions set within aPSDS, etc.

Processing logic displays the control panel on the painted surface(processing block 406). Processing logic then monitors for, detects, andprocesses gestures associated with the displayed control interface(processing block 410). In one embodiment, the monitoring, detecting,and processing of gestures is performed as discussed above.

FIG. 5 is a flow diagram of one embodiment of a method 500 for enablinggesture-based text entry and drawing on a photo-active painted surface.The method 500 is performed by processing logic that may comprisehardware (circuitry, dedicated logic, etc.), software (such as is run ona general purpose computer system or a dedicated machine), firmware, ora combination. In one embodiment, the method 500 is performed by PSDS120 or PSDS 220.

Referring to FIG. 5, processing logic begins by detecting a first usergesture initiating alphanumeric and/or image entry with respect to aphoto-active painted surface (processing block 502). In one embodiment,a PSDS system may include one or more stored gesture-based commands forinitiating text or drawing input on a photo-active painted surface. Inone embodiment, the gesture-based command may be a formal gesture, alearned gesture, or initiated via a user interface control panel. In oneembodiment, a natural gesture, such as detecting a user drawing orwriting on a photo-active painted surface, is sufficient to initiate thetext and/or image entry.

Processing logic displays, responsive to one or more text and/or imageentry gestures, persistent images on the photo-active painted surface asthe user-inputted text and/or image (processing block 504). In theembodiments discussed herein, reference to drawing or text entry doesnot require a user to actually draw on the painted surface with a pen,pencil, brush, or the like. Rather, the processing logic of a PSDS (PSDS120 or 220) tracks the user's hand position and may generate acorresponding image on photo-active painted surface corresponding to theuser's drawing or writing gestures relative to the surface. For example,when a user's hand gestures indicate the drawing of a circle on aspecific position on a photo-active painted surface, processing logicwould generate and persist an image of the circle on the surface at thelocation where the user performed the gestures.

Processing logic performs one or more computer vision processes withrespect to the persistent image and/or alphanumeric input to recognizethe user input (processing block 506). For example, processing logic mayperform image recognition to identify a user drawing as a circle,smiling face, a rendition of the Mona Lisa, etc. As another example,optical character recognition could be performed on alphanumeric userinput to recognize the specific text being entered/drawn by a user.

In one embodiment, processing logic optionally replaces the persistentimage corresponding to the text or image entry gestures with PSDSgenerated text or images (processing block 508). In one embodiment,alphanumeric entry subject to optical character recognition could bereplaced with a clear type font version of the input. Similarly, PSDSgenerated images could replace user entered drawings. For example, theuser drawn circle could be replaced with a perfect circle, or the userdrawn Mona Lisa could be replaced with an image of Leonardo da Vinci'sMona Lisa.

Processing logic then detects a second user gesture indicative of a usercommand associated with the user inputted text and/or image (processingblock 510). In one embodiment, the command may be one of a save, erase,move, or other command. In one embodiment, the command may also includea command to transmit the text and/or drawings to a remote system, suchas a user computer system of remote server. Processing logic processesthe user inputted text and/or images based on the detected user command(processing block 512).

FIG. 6 is one embodiment of a computer system that may be used with thepresent invention. It will be apparent to those of ordinary skill in theart, however that other alternative systems of various systemarchitectures may also be used.

The data processing system illustrated in FIG. 6 includes a bus or otherinternal communication means 615 for communicating information, and aprocessor 610 coupled to the bus 615 for processing information. Thesystem further comprises a random access memory (RAM) or other volatilestorage device 650 (referred to as memory), coupled to bus 615 forstoring information and instructions to be executed by processor 610.Main memory 650 also may be used for storing temporary variables orother intermediate information during execution of instructions byprocessor 610. The system also comprises a read only memory (ROM) and/orstatic storage device 620 coupled to bus 615 for storing staticinformation and instructions for processor 610, and a data storagedevice 625 such as a magnetic disk or optical disk and its correspondingdisk drive. Data storage device 625 is coupled to bus 615 for storinginformation and instructions.

The system may further be coupled to a display device 670, such as acathode ray tube (CRT) or a liquid crystal display (LCD) coupled to bus615 through bus 665 for displaying information to a computer user. Analphanumeric input device 675, including alphanumeric and other keys,may also be coupled to bus 615 through bus 665 for communicatinginformation and command selections to processor 610. An additional userinput device is cursor control device 680, such as a mouse, a trackball,stylus, or cursor direction keys coupled to bus 615 through bus 665 forcommunicating direction information and command selections to processor610, and for controlling cursor movement on display device 670.

Another device, which may optionally be coupled to computer system 600,is a communication device 690 for accessing other nodes of a distributedsystem via a network. The communication device 690 may include any of anumber of commercially available networking peripheral devices such asthose used for coupling to an Ethernet, token ring, Internet, or widearea network. The communication device 690 may further be a null-modemconnection, or any other mechanism that provides connectivity betweenthe computer system 600 and the outside world. Note that any or all ofthe components of this system illustrated in FIG. 6 and associatedhardware may be used in various embodiments of the present invention.

It will be appreciated by those of ordinary skill in the art that anyconfiguration of the system may be used for various purposes accordingto the particular implementation. The control logic or softwareimplementing the present invention can be stored in main memory 650,mass storage device 625, or other storage medium locally or remotelyaccessible to processor 610.

It will be apparent to those of ordinary skill in the art that thesystem, method, and process described herein can be implemented assoftware stored in main memory 650 or read only memory 620 and executedby processor 610. This control logic or software may also be resident onan article of manufacture comprising a computer readable medium havingcomputer readable program code embodied therein and being readable bythe mass storage device 625 and for causing the processor 610 to operatein accordance with the methods and teachings herein.

The present invention may also be embodied in a handheld or portabledevice containing a subset of the computer hardware components describedabove. For example, the handheld device may be configured to containonly the bus 615, the processor 610, and memory 650 and/or 625. Thehandheld device may also be configured to include a set of buttons orinput signaling components with which a user may select from a set ofavailable options. The handheld device may also be configured to includean output apparatus such as a liquid crystal display (LCD) or displayelement matrix for displaying information to a user of the handhelddevice. Conventional methods may be used to implement such a handhelddevice. The implementation of the present invention for such a devicewould be apparent to one of ordinary skill in the art given thedisclosure of the present invention as provided herein.

The present invention may also be embodied in a special purposeappliance including a subset of the computer hardware componentsdescribed above. For example, the appliance may include a processor 610,a data storage device 625, a bus 615, and memory 650, and onlyrudimentary communications mechanisms, such as a small touch-screen thatpermits the user to communicate in a basic manner with the device. Ingeneral, the more special-purpose the device is, the fewer of theelements need be present for the device to function.

It is to be understood that the above description is intended to beillustrative, and not restrictive. Many other embodiments will beapparent to those of skill in the art upon reading and understanding theabove description. The scope of the invention should, therefore, bedetermined with reference to the appended claims, along with the fullscope of equivalents to which such claims are entitled.

The foregoing description, for purpose of explanation, has beendescribed with reference to specific embodiments. However, theillustrative discussions above are not intended to be exhaustive or tolimit the invention to the precise forms disclosed. Many modificationsand variations are possible in view of the above teachings. Theembodiments were chosen and described in order to best explain theprinciples of the invention and its practical applications, to therebyenable others skilled in the art to best utilize the invention andvarious embodiments with various modifications as may be suited to theparticular use contemplated.

We claim:
 1. A method, comprising: driving a spatial electromagneticmodulator to emit electromagnetic stimulation in the form of an image tocause photo-active paint to display the image; capturing, with at leasta camera of a painted surface display system, image data of the imagedisplayed on the photo-active paint applied to a surface and a usermotion performed relative to the image, wherein the image displayed onthe photo-active paint persists for a period of time even when the usermotion obstructs a path between the spatial electromagnetic modulatorand the image displayed on photo-active paint; analyzing the capturedimage data to determine a sequence of one or more physical movements ofthe user relative to the image displayed on the photo-active paint;determining, based on the analysis, that the user motion is indicativeof a gesture; and processing data by the painted surface display systembased on the determined gesture.
 2. The method of claim 1, furthercomprising: determining a real-world context associated with the userbased on results of the analysis of the sequence of one or more physicalmovements of the user relative to the image in the captured image data;generating a control interface for display on the photo-active paintapplied to the surface based on the determined real-world context; anddriving the spatial electromagnetic modulator to emit electromagneticstimulation in the form the generated control interface to cause thephoto-active paint to display an image of the control interface.
 3. Themethod of claim 2, wherein the real-world context includes one or moreof the user's movement relative to the surface, the user's positionrelative to a plurality of different locations of the surface, adetermined identify of the user, a determination of the user's directionof attention relative to the surface, or one or more user controlinterface preferences.
 4. The method of claim 2, wherein the determinedgesture is a gesture to interact with a control in the displayed imageof the control interface, further comprising: driving the spatialelectromagnetic modulator to emit electromagnetic stimulation in theform of an update to the image to cause the photo-active paint todisplay an updated image of the control interface.
 5. The method ofclaim 1, further comprising: transmitting the processed data to a remotesystem.
 6. The method of claim 5, wherein the remote system is one of aremote server, a home entertainment system, home security system, or alighting control system.
 7. The method of claim 4, wherein the imagedisplayed on photo-active paint applied to the surface is an image of apage from a book, the determined gesture is a gesture to change whichpage of the book is displayed, and the update to the image is thedisplay of an image of a new page in the book.
 8. The method of claim 4,further comprising: detecting that the user motion indicative of thegesture is indicative of a data entry gesture; and driving the spatialelectromagnetic modulator to emit electromagnetic stimulation in theform of the detected data entry to cause the photo-active paint todisplay the data entry as the update to the image.
 9. The method ofclaim 8, further comprising: detecting a second user motion indicativeof a second gesture, the second gesture a command to be applied to thedata entry; and performing the command on data entered with the dataentry gesture.
 10. The method of claim 8, wherein the data entry is textentry, further comprising: performing optical character recognition onthe text entry; and driving the spatial electromagnetic modulator toemit electromagnetic stimulation in the form a clean type font versionof the text entry to cause the photo-active paint to display the cleantype font version of the text entry.
 11. The method of claim 8, whereinthe data entry is entry of a user generated drawing, further comprising:performing image recognition analysis on the user generated drawing;determining a second version of the user generated drawing based onresults of the image recognition analysis; and driving the spatialelectromagnetic modulator to emit electromagnetic stimulation in theform the second version of the user generated drawing to cause thephoto-active paint to display the second version of the user generateddrawing.
 12. The method of claim 1, further comprising: analyzing asecond image drawn on the photo-active paint applied to a surface by ahand-held electromagnetic modulator within the captured image data; andanalyzing the second image to determine whether the second image isindicative of a gesture.
 13. The method of claim 1, wherein the gestureis one of a formal gesture, a user-created gesture, a natural gesture,or a user-interface control gesture.
 14. A non-transitory computerreadable storage medium including instructions that, when executed by aprocessor, cause the processor to perform a method comprising: driving aspatial electromagnetic modulator to emit electromagnetic stimulation inthe form of an image to cause photo-active paint to display the image;capturing, with at least a camera of a painted surface display system,image data of the image displayed on the photo-active paint applied to asurface and a user motion performed relative to the image, wherein theimage displayed on the photo-active paint persists for a period of timeeven when the user motion obstructs a path between the spatialelectromagnetic modulator and the image displayed on photo-active paint;analyzing the captured image data to determine a sequence of one or morephysical movements of the user relative to the image displayed on thephoto-active paint; determining, based on the analysis, that the usermotion is indicative of a gesture; and processing data by the paintedsurface display system based on the determined gesture.
 15. Thenon-transitory computer readable storage medium of claim 14, furthercomprising: determining a real-world context associated with the userbased on results of the analysis of the sequence of one or more physicalmovements of the user relative to the image in the captured image data;generating a control interface for display on the photo-active paintapplied to the surface based on the determined real-world context; anddriving the spatial electromagnetic modulator to emit electromagneticstimulation in the form the generated control interface to cause thephoto-active paint to display an image of the control interface.
 16. Thenon-transitory computer readable storage medium of claim 14, wherein theimage displayed on photo-active paint applied to the surface is an imageof a page from a book, the determined gesture is a gesture to changewhich page of the book is displayed, and the update to the image is thedisplay of an image of a new page in the book.
 17. The non-transitorycomputer readable storage medium of claim 14, further comprising:detecting that the user motion indicative of the gesture is indicativeof a data entry gesture; driving the spatial electromagnetic modulatorto emit electromagnetic stimulation in the form the detected data entryas the update to the image to cause the photo-active paint to displaythe data entry.
 18. The non-transitory computer readable storage mediumof claim 17, wherein the data entry is text entry, further comprising:performing optical character recognition on the text entry; and drivingthe spatial electromagnetic modulator to emit electromagneticstimulation in the form a clean type font version of the text entry tocause the photo-active paint to display the clean type font version ofthe text entry.
 19. The non-transitory computer readable storage mediumof claim 1, further comprising: analyzing a second image drawn on thephoto-active paint applied to a surface by a hand-held electromagneticmodulator within the captured image data; and analyzing the second imageto determine whether the second image is indicative of a gesture.
 20. Apainted surface display system comprising: a display engine to drive aspatial electromagnetic modulator to emit electromagnetic stimulation inthe form of an image to cause photo-active paint to display the image;an audiovisual capture device to capture image data of an imagedisplayed on the photo-active paint applied to a surface and a usermotion performed relative to the image with at least a camera of thepainted surface display system, wherein the image displayed on thephoto-active paint persists for a period of time even when the usermotion obstructs a path between the spatial electromagnetic modulatorand the image displayed on photo-active paint; a gesture recognitionengine to analyze the captured image data to determine a sequence of oneor more physical movements of the user relative to the image, anddetermine, based on the analysis, that the user motion is indicative ofa gesture; and a control engine to process data based on the determinedgesture.